By Annelise Schouten, Serafina Holzer, and Fawn Zech
On May 11th 2026, KZSC’s Jazz and Blues (Annelise Schouten), Rock (Serafina Holzer), and Folk (Fawn Zech) directors sat down for an interview with Robert Lester Folsom on the 16th stop of his Spring 2026 tour. Celebrating his release of If You Wanna Laugh, You Gotta Cry Sometimes: Archives Vol. 3, 1972-1975, Folsom speaks on his collection of songs written in his late teens released by Anthology/ Mexican Summer on March 20th of this year.
Our interview took place in KZSC’s recording studio B, where Folsom and I sat across from each other, with KZSC’s Rock Director Serafina Holzer and Folk Director Fawn Zech sitting nearby. As we each took turns asking Folsom about his influences, songwriting, anecdotes from touring, and what purpose music serves in his life, words spoken in the interview all came back to a central philosophy; that of honoring your dreams, following your passions, and moving through life without a backup plan.
Robert Lester Folsom, released his first album Music and Dreams in 1976, recording it in Atlanta’s LeFevre Studios at 21 years old. A release that produced 1000 copies, 500 singles of “My Stove’s on Fire”, and 200 8-track tapes. Throughout his teens, Folsom recorded a multitude of songs on his reel-to-reel recorder in ‘barns, motel rooms, and yards’, tracks that would not be released for another 40+ years. During Folsom’s college days at South Georgia College, he continued to create music with his college band Abacus. In late 1975, Abacus recorded Abacus Atlanta Sessions, recordings that were later released by Anthology/ Mexican Summer alongside Music and Dreams, and collections of said reel-to-reel tapes — Ode to a Rainy Day: Archives 1972-1975, Sunshine Only Sometimes Vol. 2, and If You Wanna Laugh, You Gotta Cry Sometimes: Archives Vol. 3 in the 2010’s and 20’s.
Folsom’s music went undiscovered for 40 years, finding its home in Folsom’s personal collection of reel-to-reels, as 8-tracks in friend’s cars, and as scattered around pressings from Music and Dreams’ original 1976 release. During that period Folsom got married, had kids, and worked as a house painter, all while continuing to create music for himself, friends, and through church bands like Revolution Friday in Jacksonville, Florida. In the early 2010’s a pressing of Music and Dreams was rediscovered in Japan, eventually coming to the attention of Keith Abrahamsson, founder of the independent record label Mexican Summer. Music and Dreams was then re-released under the Anthology/ Mexican Summer label in 2014, and since then Folsom has received global recognition and love for songs he wrote over 40 years ago.
Following the interview we attended Folsom’s show at the Felton Music Hall. Paired with a 6 piece band consisting of Jeremy Blanton on bass, Kevin Peacon on guitar, Owen Barrett on drums, Brooke Garwood on vocals and glockenspiel, Jeremy Prince on keys, saxophone, and flute, and Landon Gay or “Howdy” on the slide guitar, Folsom arranges his intimate tunes into full band renditions. Anecdotes about his music and life filled the time between songs, and stories of old friends, romances, and the pursuit of your dreams created a sea of giggles and smiles in awe of Folsom’s spirit and inspirational words. Though with the large band, the intimate and personal nature of Folsom’s original recordings and songwriting persistently rang true.
Before playing “Ginger”, written about Folsom’s long time friend, Folsom told the story from a conversation in a music class in college. Describing them as “the only two hippies”, he spoke of their dreams of becoming rockstars. A conversation of their would-be stage names gave way to Ginger Ale and Les Baby, ultimately inspiring Folsom’s track about his formative friendship with “Ginger”. Now the director of a music school back in Georgia, Folsom described how they ultimately achieved their dreams of rockstar status; her music school in Georgia now supports hundreds of students.
Other anecdotes told the story of how Folsom’s touring band came to be. The band, composed of 6 musicians in their 20’s and 30’s, was the result of a merge with the Jacksonville Florida band Sun Child, led by singer Brooke Garwood. Unlike the members of Sun Child, Jeremy Blanton, Folsom’s bassist, has known Folsom since he was a child. Blanton’s mother and father being two of Folsom’s closest friends and fellow bandmates in a later project of Folsom’s called Revolution Friday, a christian rock band formed in the 90s. In between songs Folsom told the crowd “Jeremy’s father was my best friend, and now he’s my best friend”.
Throughout the show Folsom’s personality and humor shines through, saying “this one’s “Singing in the Shower” because I just took one” after spilling his beer before performing the track “Singing In The Shower” off his album Sunshine Only Sometimes, or making his fellow bandmates do spit takes after comments on his past relationships. Additionally saying “This one’s for my friend at UC Santa Cruz” before starting the track “Situations”, referring to our prior conversation at KZSC about each of our favorite songs of his. A most memorable message from Folsom was said before “Music and Dreams”, where his telling of the story of his love for music and journey to touring led to the final statement “Honor your dreams and your dreams will honor you”.
After the show, Serafina (KZSC Rock Director) and I spoke with Folsom to congratulate him on the incredible show and share our gratitude. We left the show with a handshake and hug, with Folsom entertaining a bit that he was our spiritual leader and so-called pastor, a call back to the impactful words he shared about Music and Dreams. We loved the show so much that we drove to San Francisco the next day to see Folsom play for a second time at the Independent, an equally unique experience and true testament to the power of Folsom’s music and message.
Between the two concerts, Robert Lester Folsom did not disappoint to maintain a groove within the crowd and laughter all around. Not only through his chemistry with his band, but his connection to his audience, making this listening experience one to remember. Thank you to Folsom and his band for stopping by KZSC, we deeply enjoyed our time chatting and hope to catch you guys next time you’re on the west coast!
This interview has been edited for clarity and concision*
RLF: This is the first station I’ve been into on this tour.
Annelise: Oh Sweet! Well, we’re so honored.
RLF: Thank you. It’s my pleasure.
Annelise: Leading up to this, I’ve talked with a lot of people at the station about your music and how it really resonates with us and a lot of people our age.
RLF: You know, I wonder why that is. We have ideas, we think that people are just tired of really polished type stuff, they want the raw stuff.
Annelise: I don’t know about other people here, but I found your music in early high school.
RLF: Well, that wasn’t too long ago.
Annelise: Yeah no haha.
RLF: For me, It was a while. That’s when I did all those recordings, when I was in high school and college.
Annelise: What was the process like? When and where were you doing those recordings?
RLF: Anywhere and everywhere with my reel-to-reel tape recorder, it was very portable.
Annelise: And what has it been like for this tour to revisit these songs and play them in a new context?
RLF: In March, we played in New Orleans and we played the songs from the new release (If You Wanna Laugh, You Gotta Cry Sometimes) and I almost broke down, it choked me up. I wrote these when I was so young and here we are playing them live with a really good band.
Annelise: What was the initial experience of writing and recording these, and when you first wrote them, when you were a teenager and in your late teens, were you performing?
RLF: No, just recording at home and in barns and motel rooms and yards, just wherever.
Annelise: And you grew up in rural Georgia?
RLF: Correct.
Annelise: What about that setting or musical influences did you have growing up there?
RLF: Well, in church, the singing was really good. It was country church, not country music, but, you know, it was old timey kinda from the hymns. And then the radio station was incredible because they played all genres. Like in the morning when you’d get up they’re playing country music, and then it would be, the gospel hour, in between those two though was the pop rock, cause the kids were getting ready for school. Then at lunchtime they went back to country and then at about 2 or 3 when schools let out it’s back to pop and rock, you know, top 40 stuff. Then the next town over had a college station and they played the more progressive FM stuff. So, that was really helpful for me, I loved it, I learned so much from all that. You know, I listen to everything. The pop rock was soul too, rhythm and blues and soul. And then at the end of the day, they said “We’re going to get off the air with the southern Serenade”, and it’d be classical music and the theme from Tara, “Gone with The Wind”.
Annelise: Oh, yeah!
RLF: It’s really beautiful music. And the sun would be going down in the pines.
Annelise: What are your memories of the first songs that you wrote?
RLF: It was a song called “You Are Mine”, and what’s funny is I broke up with a girl so I could be inspired, which was stupid, right?
Annelise: Yeah haha.
RLF: Like that’s backasswards. And what’s funny is I did it because I thought it would inspire me. Then it was time to go back to school and there she was on orientation day with her hot pants on, looking hot. What was I thinking? And, she’s a friend today, Vicky Elliott. But anyway, “You Are Mine” I wrote that, and “Weeping Willow Tree” was also from a breakup from a high school sweetheart.
Annelise: And are those tracks on the new release? (If You Wanna Laugh, You Gotta Cry Sometimes) / Where have those tracks been released?
RLF: No, “Weeping Willow Tree” is on Music and Dreams. “You’re Mine” hasn’t been officially recorded reel-to-reel. And “I Don’t Know” from the new release is probably from that period. So you want to go to California/ “One more song”, that’s from college, college sweetheart. She said she wanted to go to California. I said go, I’m going to stay in Macon, Georgia and play the blues. But she never went to California, she told me the other day. We’re still in touch, that’s what’s fun, these people are still alive and we’re in touch and friends. We don’t live near each other, but she never went to California. I did, but I didn’t stay in Georgia either, I live in Florida now. But we’re very close.
Annelise: Sip that southern brew.
RLF: Bourbon, southern comfort, but she liked wine.
Annelise: And when anthology recordings and Mexican Summer first reached out to you, what was that process like to compile your music into their compilation albums?
RLF: Well, Music and Dreams was discovered by someone here in California. It was being played in Japan. And then, the person in California let Keith Abrahamson know in Brooklyn at Mexican Summer about Music and Dreams and he asked to release it on vinyl, and we made an agreement. Then my friend Don Fleming, who worked for the Lomax Foundation, they do archives of Films and recordings. Somehow, Keith got word that I had these reel-to-reels at home, boxes of reel-to-reels. So, Keith says, Don, can you send me over some of those? And, he was really interested because he wanted to start an anthology label of stuff that had been released a long time ago and my stuff, which had never been released except for Music and Dreams. And that’s how that came about. And there’s so much stuff, we’re on volume three now, and there’s a four and five at least. So and what’s funny is we’ll send Keith, like 30 tracks and see what he picks for an album like 12 or 13 tracks. And I’m always amazed at what he picks because I throw some things in there thinking “he’ll never pick this”, but he does. Like on the new album, the kind of bluegrassy instrumentals, I’m like, “why do you pick those?”.
Annelise: Yeah, I really like that one with the fiddle (“Gene Autry”).
RLF: Oh, yeah, he was a Georgia fiddler, he’s in the Georgia music Hall of Fame, but he was just a guy that my dad used to play with. Just a country boy, Red Lindsey.
Annelise: I play the fiddle as well.
RLF: You don’t play the violin huh?
Annelise: I used to play the violin, but now I play the fiddle.
RLF: You’re real.
Annelise: And then when you first made Music and Dreams, how many copies did you make? And what was the distribution like for that?
RLF: A thousand copies. There were like, 500 singles of “My Stoves on Fire” and “Show Me To The Window” and then there were like 100 or 200 8 track tapes. Remember those? No you don’t, haha. But yeah, eight track tapes. And I would go to radio stations and little stores and little towns would sell the records.
Annelise: Wow and it ended up in Japan.
RLF: Now Big Love Records in Tokyo has my albums.
Annelise: The three year period that’s featured in the Sunshine Only Sometimes Recordings. What was that period like for you? What was going on in your life when you were recording those songs?
RLF: Well, you know, those songs came from different periods of my life within the high school, college age. You know, they were from different times. I remember recording “Sunshine Only Sometimes” on the reel-to-reel in my bedroom. I recorded on one side and then played along with myself on the other and I was so, so happy. And now it’s been released, you know I had no idea that would ever happen. And now we do it live and it’s just beautiful, and the band plays it so well.
Annelise: And when you were recording these songs was it just for yourself?
RLF: And my friends. We would make eight track copies and they would put them in their cars and ride around town.
Annelise: That’s so sweet. And during your college days you were in a band, correct?
RLF: Well, I formed a band in college, which was a mixture of college friends and hometown friends. And I called it Abacus.
Annelise: There’s big band culture here in Santa Cruz, millions of college bands coming out of here and a lot of shows we have here. So yeah, it’s awesome to hear when people have formed college bands and to see where it takes them.
RLF: What was unique about Abacus was that we didn’t play covers. We would mix some in so we got gigs like cover bands would get. And by blending just a few covers and doing my music, it just seemed to work. But, it might have made it hard for us to really get good cover band gigs, because I just wasn’t going to do it.
Annelise: Was that your main form of live performance at that time through that band?. Would you ever perform your own solo stuff that you made?
RLF: You mean like just me myself?
Annelise: Like performing what you were recording at that time?
RLF: Not much, just here and there. I’m even scared to do it now. I like having a band.
Annelise: And with songwriting, what’s that process like for you?
RLF: Playing guitar early in the morning, late at night and coming up with tunes, and then having lyric ideas, and then suddenly they magically mix, you know? There’s no certain way of doing it, people ask, “is it music first or lyrics?” It could be either or.
Annelise: I won’t ask you to pick your favorite song you’ve ever written because I know that’s a difficult question, unless something comes to mind, but are there any tracks that specifically stick out to you in your discography as being representative of who you are as a songwriter?
RLF: There’s a song on Music and Dreams, the last track is called “Please Don’t Forget Me”. That says it all really, I don’t want to be forgotten. I don’t want to be famous or everybody’s best friend, but I don’t want to be forgotten for what I’ve done. And “Music and Dreams” because that song is really about it all. You know it’s about following your dream.
Serafina: I just wanted to ask you, I know you just said you don’t want to be famous, and you write the music mostly for you and your loved ones. What kind of purpose does music serve you in your life? Because I’m wondering what your connection with it is and how it grew throughout your life. Like maybe you had a different purpose for it when you were in that college band, or when you were younger, and then now.
RLF: You know, growing up, I just absorbed music from everywhere. Music on TV, my hometown radio station. The Beatles really just wow, I want to do that. You know, it’s just now I just want to encourage people to play music and listen. We need artists and we need listeners. And doing this music now, I have such a wonderful young audience, and I just want to encourage everyone to follow their dreams. I mean, if they want to play music, if they want to paint, if they want to ride a bicycle or drive a tractor or whatever, just do it. Why have a backup plan? I think if you have a backup plan, you’re not going to go full force ahead. And I feel like now, since I’ve realized my dream, I’m the messenger for this.
Serafina: Are there any other bands besides the Beatles that really got you going into music?
RLF: Bob Dylan. I used to like a lot of the 70s bands, like Steppenwolf. Gosh, there’s so many. I loved it when Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young came along, and individually too. And Joni Mitchell, absolutely Joni Mitchell. And, nowadays I listen to Lord Huron and Beach House, you know, things like that.
Serafina: I love Beach House. They’re one of my favorite bands ever.
RLF: Oooo, they’re my buddies, actually.
Serafina: Oh, what? Really?
RLF: Alex is and Victoria’s is in touch.
Serafina: They were my Beatles in high school.
RLF: I get that. Yeah, Alex came to our show in Washington. He was having a blast.
Serafina: Yeah I can imagine, I see the crossover.
RLF: I will say this, we are mutual fans, and we just found out.
Serafina: Oh, that’s really special. Has that happened with any other artists?
RLF: This group Whitney just did “See You Later I’m Gone”. I had a conversation with them Monday. They’re cool, really cool. Geese gave me a shout out at Newport. I had never heard of Geese and there’s Goose, but I don’t know about Goose either.
Serafina: I’m a big fan of Geese. I’m from New York and they’re from my hometown.
Fawn: KZSC loves Geese.
RLF: I just come to find out there’s people that know about me that I didn’t realize, Waxahatchee too.
Serafina: Yeah, I just saw her, actually.
RLF: I saw her with Wilco. That was a good show.
Serafina: Oh beautiful, that sounds amazing.
RLF: At Newport last year, it’s like all these fans come to see all of these artists, but all these artists, it’s like a camp and we intermingle and get to know each other and talk about our stuff. And, that was a pleasant surprise, because I didn’t realize how many people knew about my stuff.
Fawn: So you’re in Felton tonight, and then where do you go from there?
RLF: The Independent in San Francisco, and then somewhere in Portland, the Mississippi something haha.
Fawn: And you’re from Georgia. Are you playing there at all? Did you play there?
RLF: We played Atlanta 2 or 3 times now, and Savannah and Athens. Athens is cool, a member of B-52’s was at my show. I think her name is Ann Wilson, she has the big bouffant blond hair. And, this photographer was there, and he had this group of people, and he was wanting to take pictures. My team at that time was saying no, and I said, let him! He looked like the real McCoy, you know. So he took a few pictures and he said, “you know I got Ann Wilson over there with us”, and I said “wow can I meet her?” And he’s like yeah she came to see you. And when I met her I said “are you the one that did Tin Roof Rusted?” And she said, “guilty as charged”. She was fun, she sat up close and was just smiling the whole time.
Fawn: I feel like I hear a lot of artists from the South have a very deep connection to that area. Do you feel that? Do you live out there? Do you love playing there?
RLF: I love playing there. I live in Jacksonville, Florida, which is near the Georgia line with South Georgia. Jacksonville is a big laid back city on the Atlantic Ocean. I go home a lot, and there’s a lot of soul there, you know, from all of us guys and gals. We just, we have our roots.
Annelise: So with this tour, is this the first full tour that you’ve been on before?
RLF: I started touring last year about this time. And the first tour started in San Diego.
Annelise: Was there any reason for that specifically?
RLF: Well, we had played a show in Chicago and it sold out, and it was very exciting. And Brooke Garwood, my background singer, says, “we need to go to LA”. I said, well, let’s go to LA, and I said, where do you want us to play? She said, “how about the Troubadour?” And I’m like, yeah right. And the guys in the band, said you know. “Yeah, the troubadour”. I said, go for it Brooke, go for it. She did, and we were booked within a week. And we come over here, we play San Diego, a really exciting show. And then we do the Troubadour and it sells out. It was one thing just to play there, and then for it to sell out, I’m like, oh my god. And then seeing like, everything started selling out.
Annelise: Wow and the Troubadour is just like in music culture being referenced in so many songs too “Lonesome, L.A. Cowboy”, all of those.
RLF: Yeah and before the Chicago thing, I had played the Bowery Ballroom in New York.
Serafina: Oh, I’ve been there, that’s where I’m from!
RLF: Yeah, it’s a great place. Patti Smith used to hang out there, and I like Patti Smith a lot.
Serafina: I love Patti Smith.
RLF: I love Patti Smith, I like her books, her music.
Serafina: Oh, yeah Just Kids is my favorite.
RLF: And, we’re going to play there October 11th. It’ll be the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Music and Dreams. We’re going to play the whole album.
Serafina: I wish I could be there.
RLF: You’ll be there.
Annelise: Yeah, we’ll make it out. We’ll try to make it out.
RLF: But that’s like the Troubadour, such an iconic place.
Annelise: And what has surprised you the most about touring?
RLF: That people come to hear me haha. No, it’s not surprising that the age group is like from 18 to 28 or something, because I knew that they were listening, and because of that that’s why I’m able to do it. But it’s really amazing to look out in the crowd and it looks like my grandchildren. And, and then I think one thing that’s really cool about the tour is that my band is that age. Only Jeremy’s in his 30s, and I’m in my 30s haha. But the band’s young, and I think people relate to the fact that they ‘re playing my music. And, I don’t know, it speaks to you guys somehow. And I appreciate it, I don’t take it for granted.
Fawn: Can I ask how the band came about?
RLF: I saw Brooke Garwood, and she has a band called Sun Child. I saw them at Riverside Art market, which is downtown Jacksonville under a bridge by the river, and I go there often just to check out who’s playing. And I went down and just introduced myself and I said “You remind me of me when I was starting out”. And she says “Who?”. And she got my number or email and she said she’d like to have coffee and talk about music. So we hooked up, she lives out at the beach, and I live in the city. And, we hooked up and talked about music, and it kept happening, and I got the Hideout show in Chicago and needed her for background vocals and glockenspiel. And I got her band Sun Child to open for us, and the thing about touring and doing the Troubador and stuff came up and, I’m like, I need a touring band. And the band I had, they were like my age and had regular jobs and they couldn’t do it. And I understood that, but it enabled me to merge with Sun Child and they were all giddy up let’s go, you know we want to go. So that’s how that happened.
Fawn: That’s really cool.
Annelise: And do you have any favorite shows or any specific stories from touring so far? Any favorites?
RLF: Newport, that was unreal. It’s like I always said it was like a bucket list thing that I didn’t even have on the list because I didn’t even think it could be. Playing in Canada too, I’d never been out of the country, but now I’ve played in Montreal, Toronto and we’re going to play in Vancouver on this one. Things like that are just so amazing to me. The Troubadour was exciting, The Chapel (San Francisco) was probably our favorite show of all. There was a vibe there, it was sold out, the venue’s so amazing, and it was like, hey, this is where we belong kinda feeling.
Annelise: I will say, there’s a big community of people in the Bay area and Santa Cruz, in this whole area, who love your music and are very well versed in it. I was saying, even in high school, I feel like everybody knew your stuff. Definitely a fan favorite of people’s, so that’s no surprise to me that San Francisco really showed up for it.
RLF: I don’t know if it’s because of it, but I used to like the psychedelic music, hippies. I was a hippie wannabe, you know, I had the hair and everything, but I had a regular job haha. But, I like the Bay area, I like the people, and it’s an amazing place, I think.
Annelise: For music history and music in general.
RLF: Yeah, I’m not even a Deadhead, but I appreciate what they did. I was more Jefferson Airplane, After Bathing at Baxter’s is a favorite album.
Annelise: And then so when the re-releases were released in 2010, correct? Around that time?
RLF: I think the first one was like, well Music and Dreams was and then, Ode to a Rainy Day was, 2014.
Annelise: And during that time, were you still creating music, like, what was your life like and how did it change after they picked that up?
RLF: I’ve always been creating, playing at home. I had this band, the band before the touring band. We would play downtown on Saturdays at RAM, Riverside Art market. Things like that, but not a lot, not a lot. But I continued to record. I have a friend whose name is Roy Peake, he has a home studio, and I’ve recorded there quite a bit and I have some of those recordings on CD. We might actually dig those up, but, anyway, I was still doing stuff, but I was painting houses too. And I like painting houses, inside and out.
Fawn: My mom did that, it’s kind of mesmerizing.
RLF: It’s therapy, I loved it. But I kind of retired from that and then this happened. I’m busier now really.
Annelise: No yeah I was looking at your whole list of everywhere you’re going. I’m like, this is a stacked tour.
RLF: We just played Willie Nelson’s ranch. We got our rings, but I didn’t bring mine. It says “Luck”, it’s really cool.
Annelise: I saw Willie Nelson play last year. It was great.
Serafina: You saw him with Bob Dylan too?
Annelise: Yeah. Bob Dylan.
RLF: He’s older than me, both of them.
Annelise: They put on a great show too. Bob Dylan was a little bit incoherent.
RLF: You never know what you’re going to get with Bob, you’re always going to get Willie.
Annelise: Yeah, he was great. So tonight, the concert tonight. Very excited to see you, I know a lot of people here are very excited to see you. Seeing posters for the show, I was like “No way! this is crazy!”. But for the rest of the tour, is there anything specifically that you’re looking forward to?
RLF: I would have to say, because I’ve been to some of the other places, going to Vancouver. Never been there and I think that’s interesting, I can’t wait to check that out. And I had never played Phoenix, maybe I don’t want to again.
Annelise: So hot?
RLF: It’s hot, It’s different. That’s a different kind of city, but the crowd was very fantastic. Oh, a very good crowd. Very receptive and into it. I don’t know what they were drinking or something, but they were a good crowd.
Fawn: They have some sort of magnetic thing out there.
RLF: I was told that they just don’t have many things like what we were doing. And it’s what, the fifth largest city in the United States or something. And I had some friends that had moved there for their jobs, and they came, and that was cool.
Annelise: And for the future of releasing things, you said that there’s a maybe fourth or fifth, recordings release in the works?
RLF: There absolutely could be, we are talking about possibly recording a live album with this band. Just to spread the energy that we get, you know, from the shows and to properly record some of the more raw stuff. And hopefully one day a new studio album.
Annelise: Yeah, that would be great! Off of this most recent album, do you have any specific stories about the tracks that you could speak on.
RLF: I thought it was interesting that, when they had the fires in LA, they were trying to put together a thing to raise money to help the people. And Keith at the label called me and asked me if I thought there was any track that could be used. And, that’s when I played “Burnt Carmine” from the album. A lot of people say Burnt Car-mine and I might’ve spelled it wrong, but it’s Burnt Car-men. And it really kind of resonates with what they were going through. I mentioned angels in it, like the City of Angels, and it did very well and it helped them. I felt good helping, cause I didn’t know what else I could do. I personally don’t have a lot of money, but if my music can generate money for that, I thought that was good. I think that’s what’s interesting about that track. It was basically my made up thing about a guy that had messed up with his lover, “You turned around and walked away from an angel.”
Annelise: When did you write that?
RLF: I wrote that probably at the very end of what the archives date is, it was ‘74.
Annelise Oh, wow. That’s awesome. I was reading that, I was like, oh, Carmine, I know someone named Carmine. And then I was listening to it, and I was like oh Carmen.
RLF: I think Carmen would be more like C-a-r-m-e-n. Like Eric Carmen. I like Eric Carmen, by the way, “Raspberries”. They were like the American Beatles from Cleveland. They were awesome. *While singing* “Please, go all the way”.
Serafina: Oh I know that song! Well, I can’t wait for the show.
Annelise: Cannot wait. It’s going to be so awesome. I’m so excited, I’ve been looking at a lot of videos.
RLF: Oh, god.
Annelise: No, it’s all good haha.
RLF: I’m a fool.
Serafina: I’ve never been to Felton (Music Hall) before.
Annelise: It’s such a great venue. Very, very intimate. Your music’s going to be great in there.
Serafina: It’s going to rock.
RLF: When Alex of Beach House came to our show, he said to me, “Man I thought I was going to come here there’d be a chair on the stage and two acoustic guitars, and that’s what it was going to be”. And it kind of blew him away that I had a seven piece band. You know, but, I liked the fact that I can cover my music better with more pieces.
Serafina: I heard there was pedal steel, and I love pedal steel.
RLF: You’re going to love it tonight. This guy’s good, he’s a surfer, his name is Landon Gay, but we call him Howdy because he does a thing on his own called Howdy Tunes. He likes to dig up the old cowboy songs and stuff.
Annelise: I do love how in a lot of your tracks like in “Situations” you include instruments like I think a jaw harp? is that it?
RLF: *Jaw harp impression” We called it jizz harp believe it or not, and that’s what it really was called at first.
Annelise: Oh wow, yeah I love that part, it’s always just such a good vibe. I’ll be listening and I’m like, oh is that a jaw harp? I love the jaw harp!
RLF: Well, we won’t have that tonight, but “Situations” is like the second or third song.
Annelise: Oh, really? Oh, sweet. Well thank you so much for coming, if you have any final words.
RLF: Thank you for having me, you guys are beautiful and this is a beautiful campus and I appreciate what you’re doing.
Annelise/ Serafina/ Fawn: Thank you.
Annelise: It’s such an honor to have you here, seriously.
RLF: It’s an honor for me too.
Annelise: I’m so excited to sing every word tonight, we’ll be in the crowd.
Serafina: And dancing!
RLF: So that’s something that’s amazing too, everybody sings along. That brought me to tears just to see everybody singing.
Annelise: I have so many specific memories of so many of the songs, like some remind me of my sister or this one time driving or anything like that, they just mean a lot.
RLF: Do you have a favorite song?
Annelise: Yeah “Situations” honestly, I remember my sister was leaving for college and we were all saying goodbye, and that was the song that was playing on the speaker.
RLF: The soundtrack to leaving.
Annelise: Yeah no, exactly.
RLF: I’m stuck inside the basement, and I’m freezing half to death (quote from the track “Situations”)
Annelise: And the dirty air I’m breathing (continuation of quote), haha, yeah I’d say that or “Biding My Time” I love that one.
RLF: That’s my mother’s favorite song.
Annelise: Oh, really? I love that, it was like a soundtrack to my summer last year.
RLF: That’s cool. It’s never the same song it seems like.
Annelise: For people, their favorites?
RLF: “See You Later, I’m Gone” gets a lot of reference, and “Stove’s On Fire”.
Annelise: I think that was my introduction to your music.
RLF: For a long time that was the number one song of mine. But now, “See You Later, I’m Gone” surpassed it.
Annelise: And then you released “Stove’s on Fire” as a single, right?
RLF: Yeah.
Annelise: So that was the one you were like, oh this one’s gonna get a lot of attention.
RLF: We thought yeah, and eventually it did, but initially it did not.
Serafina: Hey it paid off.
RLF: It’s better off now than then.